The Eskom Development Foundation has donated materials to help improve teaching and learning at the Tonga View Primary School, near Malelane, in Mpumalanga.

The donation entailed the procurement and installation of a five door partition to turn the school hall into two separate classrooms.

“Donations such as these to schools and other social structures are amongst the many ways we are working on achieving our goals and bringing about positive change and growth,” said the Development Foundation’s acting Chief Executive Officer Cecil Ramonotsi.

In a statement on Monday, the foundation said prior to the donation, learners and educators of two different classes used to share the space making teaching and learning difficult.

The Tonga View Primary is the only school in the area with learners from Grade R to Grade 7. The school has always struggled to accommodate them in their 16 classrooms, which include three mobile ones.

“The school has always grappled with overcrowding and this donation from Eskom has helped ease it to an extent. Most of the non-fee paying school’s learners are from underprivileged families who depend on social grants for survival,” said Eskom.

After building the hall, with the help of parents and the school’s governing body, they needed further assistance in the form of partitioning, which could help them use it for multiple purposes.

With the installation of the fold-aside doors by the Eskom Foundation, the room can now be used as two classrooms as well as a hall, as and when necessary.

The donation is part of the Eskom Foundation’s drive to bring about meaningful and sustainable development through social infrastructure. One of the key objectives of supporting education is to create an environment that is conducive to teaching and learning in schools.